My great-niece, Maisey, is a star. Of all that I’ve posted on Facebook over the years, only three posts have broken the 150 mark for views. Two are pictures of Maisey. How come?
There’s no question, she is a beautiful and precious child. But something tells me it’s more than that. Take a good look at her most recent picture-the one with the blanket partly over her face. What do you see?
Here’s what I see. I see a child so full of love from those around her that it radiates from her. Does she get fussy? Sure, every child does. But there emanates from her something we cannot turn from. I believe it’s love.
We’re like moths to light that way. When we encounter pure love, we can not help but draw to it. Sometimes what we draw to in this way is physically beautiful: majestic mountains, a spectacular sculpture. Other times what draws us is emotionally beautiful, like a couple having a difficult but honest conversation. Perhaps it’s the rawness of this love that captures us. And not just the love between the two halves of this couple, but the love each person must have for self to be this clear and strong with another person.
Any sense can draw us into love: rapturous melody, breathtaking touch, even an earthy smell like horses.
Most people appreciate the love we feel near puppies. But sometimes we’re surprised when love shows up. Have you ever felt a sense of love when a healthy plate of food is put before you? Perhaps it’s the love we feel for and from the person that prepared it. Maybe it’s something emanating from the food itself. After all, some of the healthiest food we eat is still alive when we eat it.
Or what about the love we might feel when witnessing acts of heroism or faith. Even if we don’t share the same beliefs, sometimes we can feel love for someone who has given her or himself to a worthy cause.
But how could we feel lovingly toward someone who doesn’t believe as we do? Love is the answer. I think love, as described in the above ways (and so many millions of other ways) is discernable to us, no matter how disguised. What if love is more than a word or a feeling? What if love is some kind of signal or impulse? And what if each of us is born with the equipment necessary to detect that signal? And what if all the people in all the countries, with all the beliefs and disbeliefs, in spite of their best efforts, cannot turn this equipment off in self or others? What if this unifying signal or tone is the one absolute? And what if that tone is the key to healing the world?
Endorsed by two New York Times bestselling authors.”